Flight Qualifications Campaign

[Saksafon1]

Thanks. I received that email.

[Gliptal]

TAC 17: you are told to contact WHITE HORSE but there's no mention of it's frequency in the briefing. It never actually appears in the radio menu as well. Also, figures for JOKER and BINGO fuel are clearly wrong.

[Shez]

So In BFT - FLy Low-Level Flight Plan I'm having some problem. In the Mission Editor the WP TOT's are set correctly. In game they are off. No problem I'll just reset them myself. I never get to the WP's in time. I'm taking off at 06:30 as briefed. Is this the wrong Take off time?

 

I don't understand how I as the trail guy have any bearing in what time I get to the WP's. The FE a few times flies just above stall speed. Is this normal? Who flies at stall speed in a simulated low level/avoid the bad guys flight?

[Gliptal]

Known problematic mission for many, mainly due to the idiotic AI. There's really no way around it, either you keep formation and miss all the timings, or leave formation to hit them, unless you get VERY lucky and randezvous at the perfect moment.

 

Keeping formation is also a problem since the FE flies way too erratically, and gives no cues on what he's about to do. Honestly, if my lead suddenly decides he's going full power and climbing above the ceiling I just said **** it and accepted my Q-. Granted I changed it to a Q in the logbook, but still.

 

I think Sabre_TLA said they're reworking it.

[Shez]

My last attempt I I rendezvous just as he came around his orbit. So can't get much better than that. I think I'll just skip it then. I'm not gonna stress about it.

[Sabre-TLA]

Are you using the latest version of the download package?

 

I think we tried to correct it in one of the last updates.

[Sabre-TLA]

TAC 17: you are told to contact WHITE HORSE but there's no mention of it's frequency in the briefing. It never actually appears in the radio menu as well. Also, figures for JOKER and BINGO fuel are clearly wrong.

 

Yes you are told to contact the WHITE HORSE controller. WHITE HORSE is the name of the SOF team and the controller is DARKNIGHT I believe.

 

I'll add that to the briefing to make it more obvious.

 

We put in standard values for all missions 3000 JOKER and 2500 BINGO. Why do you think they are wrong? What values would you recommend?

 

Here is a forum thread with some discussion about it.

[Gliptal]

Yes you are told to contact the WHITE HORSE controller. WHITE HORSE is the name of the SOF team and the controller is DARKNIGHT I believe.

 

I'll add that to the briefing to make it more obvious.

 

We put in standard values for all missions 3000 JOKER and 2500 BINGO. Why do you think they are wrong? What values would you recommend?

 

Here is a forum thread with some discussion about it.

Mainly because you start the mission with the fuel levels at BINGO already.

 

Maybe something like 1500 - 1000 would make more sense, considering you're supposed to AAR after egress. This would also be the case for the other missions that require an AAR.

[Shez]

Are you using the latest version of the download package?

 

I think we tried to correct it in one of the last updates.

 

 

I bought it within the last month. So I believe so.

[Gliptal]

For christs sake I just lost two hours of my time waiting for a freaking F-15E to refuel on the tanker at the end of TAC17. I swear to god I just pauesed with my gauge down to 200 pounds and STILL that Eagle is connecting, disconnecting, dropping 10000 feet, taking 10 minutes to regain them, realigninga, and all over again.

 

Please get rid of it in the next update, I'm obviously going to fail this time because I haven't got enough for RTB, but I'm really not looking forward to doing this again.

[Sabre-TLA]

For christs sake I just lost two hours of my time waiting for a freaking F-15E to refuel on the tanker at the end of TAC17. I swear to god I just pauesed with my gauge down to 200 pounds and STILL that Eagle is connecting, disconnecting, dropping 10000 feet, taking 10 minutes to regain them, realigninga, and all over again.

 

Please get rid of it in the next update, I'm obviously going to fail this time because I haven't got enough for RTB, but I'm really not looking forward to doing this again.

 

Sorry to hear that. Looks like another AI Bug as the F-15E's are setup with:

 

RTB on Bingo

This is a flag setting to allow/restrict the group to return to base upon reaching Bingo Fuel state (when there is only enough fuel left to return to base.)

The default setting is ON (allow).

 

Looks like they decided to hit the tanker instead.

 

All the allied flights are setup with the RTB on Bingo setting enabled.

 

I'll see what I can do.

[Gliptal]

Yeah sorry for the tone, but after all that time it really got me nervous.

 

Worst part is, he downright skipped in front of me: I was already creeping up on the boom when the tanker went "Chicks in tow, 1 mile trail".

[bzhnono]

Master ARM on, Gun PAC on

Shoot the damn F15 :D

[Gliptal]

Master ARM on, Gun PAC on

Shoot the damn F15 :D

I really got close to blasting it out of the skies with my 30mm. :joystick:

[bzhnono]

I really got close to blasting it out of the skies with my 30mm. :joystick:

I did it more than once on this mission really :)

[Gliptal]

I did it more than once on this mission really :)

So you had the infinite F-15E AAR problem too?

[bzhnono]

No, never get this, I just did this mission 30 times to get it complete so whenever an AI plane get in the way with a weird behavior I shot him :O

[Sabre-TLA]

I've removed the F-15E from the TAC17 mission since it wasn't really needed and was causing so much trouble. I'll post an updated package soon.

 

Are there other AI planes you noticed having issues with? We have been correcting them as they are discovered.

[Gliptal]

I've removed the F-15E from the TAC17 mission since it wasn't really needed and was causing so much trouble. I'll post an updated package soon.

 

Are there other AI planes you noticed having issues with? We have been correcting them as they are discovered.

Nope, not that I've noticed. No way to force it to RTB rather than AAR?

[Gliptal]

Any chance you could change the tanker's speed from 176 knots to the 220 ish? I'm pretty sure the default speed is too slow than real operations. I also suspect the F-15E's behaviour is caused by this.

[Sabre-TLA]

Nope, not that I've noticed. No way to force it to RTB rather than AAR?

 

I might be able to do a switch waypoint to force it to RTB but I'm disappointed the RTB on Bingo trigger isn't working anymore. :mad:

[Sabre-TLA]

Any chance you could change the tanker's speed from 176 knots to the 220 ish? I'm pretty sure the default speed is too slow than real operations. I also suspect the F-15E's behaviour is caused by this.

 

Unfortunately it appears the tanker speed is managed by the Game Engine (once tanking is requested).

 

I checked the mission and we have the tanker speed set at 270 for all waypoints.

 

I don't think there is anyway to change it within the current ME. Maybe there is a tanker lua file somewhere that controls that setting - I'll see if I can find it.

[Petchyboy]

Hi sabre,

 

Looking at getting back into the a10c after a long break, just wondering if you have a package that includes the 3 phases and the interactive startup/shutdown missions?

Look forward to working my way through your training in prep for red flag. :thumbup:

[Redglyph]

Quick Link Reference:

We have a blog: http://mapleflagmissions.blogspot.ca/

 

Hello!

 

Just purchased and ran a little bit through the BFT practice and campaign. It's great so far, that's how the training missions should have been by default with the different modules - not that those which are provided are really bad, but they are not always up to the aircraft (the Huey comes to mind, especially since there is virtually no way to contact them and get their missions fixed).

 

The documentation, especially the checklists, is a nice touch, it's quite thorough, maybe at the exception of the exterior lights ("as required" is a bit vague, there are known conventions for the different phases). Much better than the original documentation's checklists. The RWR symbol list also seems more accurate than most of the lists we can find around.

 

The only big problem I have is the installation procedure. There are several packages, for example 4 in the case of the BFT, and for every single one of them you have to run an installer, type in the serial, the password, find the installation path, and the uninstall files will overwrite one another, the documentation files in different folders... It's really too tedious and as user-unfriendly as it can get. I don't like to have to install an additional program to provide the SUID either.

 

Could you please at least have only one installer, and point the default path correctly to the user's profile path? Or better still, since each installation program will put data in the Windows system directory and in the registry, which is usually not desirable, why not keep this simple and clean, and just provide a download link to a zip file once the package is paid? The result will be exactly the same, the user has access to all the files, but at least it would be easier to install.

 

In the first qualification, I had some surprises. At the runway exit, I wanted to already run the "After clearing the runway" part, partly because 2 minutes is too short to shutdown everything once parked, and also because that's what was asked during the practice mission. It turns out that I was later reproached a missing item: CMSP to STBY. Of course, since it was switched to off after clearing the runway. Another 25 minutes lost.

 

It doesn't always detect the fuel check either, not sure why.

 

Also, a little funny event: during the practice, an AI A-10 which is supposed to take off (and we have to wait for before taxiing on the runway) crashes into something and starts to burn at the start of the runway. It doesn't block the mission, but it's a little weird ;)

 

Overall it's great work, a lot of effort has obviously been put into this! :)

[Gliptal]

AFAIK the installation procedure is a bit awkward because they have to fullfill some obligations set by ED for any third party that is earning money with DCS.

 

The cockpit switch thing is an old problem with the game engine, especially regarding depressable buttons: keep them depressed for half a second or so, if you just click they may not register. This may also become an issue with the pickle button in later missions.

 

I'm pretty sure the check is only done on button and rotary states after 2 minutes, and not on whether they are switched from one state to the other in that time frame. Are you sure it's CMSP on STBY and not CMSP on OFF?

 

I also think that 2 minutes is a tad short, but with just a bit of practice you can switch everything off in 90 seconds or so. The time requirement goes away in later missions anyway. Since you're switching off the aircraft, I found it easier to disregard the checklist and just switch everything off going clockwise through panels and consoles, since ultimately it doesn't matter if you turn off SAS before TCN and whatnot. The only exception is the electrical panel, that should be tampered with only after both engines are off.

 

Shameless self plugging: you may want to check out my own checklist, it's color coded and compliant with Maple Flag procedures. http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=146716 There are also nicely cropped .jpg images of the pages in case you wish to use the ingame kneeboard.